ALBANY The Yale hockey team opens NCAA Tournament play Saturday night against UMass Lowell, a matchup that naturally leads to thoughts of the last time those teams faced off.

At the 2013 Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Yale won a national semifinal in overtime, 3 2.

“Honestly, I don’t remember too much about that game,” said defenseman Rob O’Gara, a Bruins draft pick and one of eight Yale seniors. “I remember Andrew Miller scoring in overtime and skating onto the ice and jumping on a pile.”

Yale won the national championship two days later with a victory over Quinnipiac, completing a journey through the 16 team field that started with upsets over Minnesota and North Dakota.

Anas’ Status Not Divulged As Quinnipiac Heads Into Game With RIT MIKE ANTHONY

ALBANY The Quinnipiac hockey team practiced Friday afternoon at the Times Union Center and all players, save for one, wore blue or white jerseys.

Sam Anas wore red. That’s the careful, no contact color. It made clear that Anas, a junior forward and the team’s leading scorer, remained below 100.

ALBANY The Quinnipiac hockey team practiced Friday afternoon at the Times Union Center and all players, save for one, wore blue or white jerseys.

Sam Anas wore red. That’s the careful, no contact color. The program is in a stable, winning place.

“For us, at this stage, making the tournament is not an achievement,” said Allain, in his 10th season as coach at his alma mater. “This is an opportunity, certainly an earned opportunity, but I think our guys are focused on having a chance to win a national championship.

Yale (19 8 4) has played just two games in 27 days, receiving a bye in the ECAC Tournament and then being swept in a quarterfinal series by Dartmouth.

UMass Lowell (24 9 5) went the distance, and then some, in the Hockey East Tournament. The River Hawks lost the championship game to Northeastern in three overtimes.

“A big bonus for the fans,” said coach Norm Bazin, whose team is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years. “They saw two excellent hockey games instead of one. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a coach. You might think there was anxiety on the bench but it wasn’t so. Everyone was thoroughly entertained, fans and coaches alike. [Players] recovered the following day. Overall, they enjoyed it and will look back on it fondly.”

UMass Lowell seniors have 99 victories, fourth in the nation behind only Quinnipiac (110), North Dakota (106) and Minnesota State (101).

Yale junior goalie Alex Lyon leads the nation with a 1.59 goals against average and a .938 saves percentage. For the second season in a row, Yale has the best scoring defense in the country (1.74 goals a game). Lowell’s Kevin Boyle, a senior, is third in goals against average (1.77) and fourth in saves percentage (.935).

Yale has lost three games in a row after solidifying its place in the NCAA Tournament with an eight game winning streak. Now as the No. 3 seed in the East Regional, Yale is in search of its first NCAA Tournament victory since the 2013 championship game. UMass Lowell is seeded No. 2. The winner takes on either Quinnipiac or RIT Sunday in the regional final.

Physically, the Bulldogs are in a good place, well rested after such a long layoff.

“The Dartmouth series was a blessing in disguise,” junior forward John Hayden, a Blackhawks draft pick, said. “It allowed us time to go back, build our team chemistry and get better.”

And, Allain said, “It’s certainly sharpened our focus. Our practices are high tempo but they’re generally light and fun. I would say the practices last week weren’t very much fun. I was angry and players were angry that we didn’t have a chance to play in the ECAC championship. We’ll find out if that will benefit us or not.”